American Athletic Conference teams collected five wins as Tulane, Cincinnati, UCF, USF and ECU closed out their respective non-conference slates.
No. 20/22 Cincinnati 81, Cleveland State 62
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) -- Gary Clark scored 18 points, and Kyle Washington had a pair of put-backs that sparked a late run as No. 20 Cincinnati pulled away to an 81-62 victory over Cleveland State on Thursday night.
The Bearcats (11-2) struggled to extend their home-court winning streak to 33 games, the longest in the nation. Washington's consecutive rebounds and baskets pushed it to 66-56 -- only Cincinnati's second double-digit lead of the game -- and sparked a closing 21-8 run.
Jarron Cumberland added 16 points for Cincinnati, which is playing this season at BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University while its on-campus arena is renovated. The Bearcats went 18-0 at Fifth Third Arena last season.
Tyree Appleby had 16 points for the Vikings (3-8), who were playing their second road game in three days.
The Vikings stayed close by hitting 3s -- their specialty. There were three ties and eight lead changes in the first half, with the Vikings shooting 68 percent from the field, including 7 of 12 from beyond the arc. Cincinnati didn't lead by double digits until midway through the second half.
Tulane 77, South Alabama 73
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Melvin Frazier scored 18 points, Blake Paul had 11 with a late steal that gave Frazier the clinching free throws with 1.3 seconds left and Tulane edged South Alabama 77-73 on Thursday.
Caleb Daniels had 12 points, including a 3-point play that put the Green Wave (9-3) up 74-71 with 28.6 seconds left. Cameron Reynolds had 14 points with a free throw that made it 75-73 with 16 seconds to play.
Rodrick Sikes had 34 points for the Jaguars (6-6) with two free throws that made it a one-point game with 18 seconds left and Josh Ajayi had 17 with the 3-pointer that tied the game at 71 at 49 seconds.
Tulane had early 7-0 and 6-0 runs for a 16-7 lead and then used a 10-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers to lead 28-12 with 8:50 to go in the first half. Sikes had seven points, five from the foul line, in a 9-0 surge that helped the Jags get within 44-33 at the half.
Sikes had 23 points, including his six 3-pointers, in the second half with his 4-point playing putting the Jags up 67-66 with 3:46 remaining.
UCF 89, South Carolina State 64
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Tacko Fall had 18 points and 11 rebounds to help Central Florida rout South Carolina State 89-64 on Thursday night for its fifth straight win.
Fall shot 7 of 9 from the field. Dayon Griffin and A.J. Davis each added 11 points for UCF (9-3), which shot 59 percent from the field. Chad Brown and Chance McSpadden chipped in 10 points apiece.
Donte Wright scored 19 points, making five 3-pointers to lead South Carolina State (4-11).
The Bulldogs cut a seven-point deficit and pulled to 44-43 on Ian Kinard's 3-pointer with 17 minutes left. Fall answered with a layup to spark a 19-2 run, with Davis making four free throws and a 3-pointer during the stretch. South Carolina State missed six field goals and a free throw, and committed three turnovers before Justin Jones made a jumper with 11 minutes to play.
ECU 76, Grambling 68
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- B.J. Tyson tossed in 20 points and added six rebounds and three assists and East Carolina made a living at the free-throw line in a 76-68 victory over Grambling on Tuesday night.
Isaac Fleming scored 18 and Dimitri Spasojevic totaled 16 points and seven rebounds for the Pirates (6-5), who shot 40 free throws -- making 25. The Tigers (4-8) were 9 of 14 from the foul line.
ECU picked up its fourth win in the last five games, beat Grambling for the third time in a row and posted a winning nonconference record for the eighth straight season.
Devante Jackson came off the bench to score a career-high 21 for the Tigers, who have played 11 of their 12 games on the road. Ivy Smith Jr. finished with 20 points and six assists and Shirmane Thomas chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Tyson scored five in a game-opening 11-2 run for ECU, but Grambling battled back and led 31-28 at halftime. The Tigers led 53-52 with nine minutes left in the game, but Spasojevic scored five in a 7-0 run and the Pirates made just enough free throws down the stretch.
USF 78, Charlotte 76
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Terrence Samuel hit the second of two free throws, knocked down a jumper and fed Tulio Da Silva for what proved to be the game winner in the final minutes to assure South Florida of a 78-76 win over Charlotte Thursday night.
Samuel's jumper gave the Bulls a 76-70 lead with 1:31 left, but Jaylan McGill answered with a 3-pointer to pull the 49ers within three. Da Silva's jumper made it 78-73 with 1:03 left. Jon Davis answered with a trey to get Charlotte within two, but missed two 3-point attempts in the closing seconds.
Charlotte led by two at the break, but Payton Banks made a jumper seconds into the second half to even it at 41-41. Justin Brown hit a 3 midway through the half to give USF the lead for good, 57-55.
Da Silva led USF (7-6) with 23 points.
Charlotte (4-7) had 16 points from Adrien White.
No. 18/19 Arizona 73, UConn 58
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Rawle Alkins scored 20 points, Dusan Ristic had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 18 Arizona used a late run to pull away for a 73-58 victory over UConn on Thursday night.
Arizona (10-3) traded ugly possessions with the Huskies in the first half before both teams found an offensive rhythm in the second. The Wildcats took control behind their defense during a late 8-0 run that pushed their lead to 65-55 and on to their seventh straight win since an 0-3 trip to the Bahamas.
Arizona made 14 of 23 shots in the second half to win its 47th straight non-conference home game and beat UConn for the first time in six attempts all-time.
Wildcats guard Allonzo Trier scored 15 points after leaving in the second half of Monday's game against North Dakota State with a sprained left knee.
UConn (7-4) started slow after an 11-day break for exams before coming alive in the second half behind the trio of Terry Larrier, Jalen Adams and Christian Vital.
The Huskies traded baskets with the Wildcats for most of the second half, but a scoreless drought of more than 3 minutes at the wrong time sent them to another loss against a power program.
Larrier finished with 18 points, Adams had 13 and Vital 11.
The Huskies have been criticized for not always playing hard while winning the games they were supposed and have mostly stumbled against how-we-measure-up opponents. UConn did beat Oregon, but lost to No. 2 Michigan State, Arkansas and Syracuse.
The Huskies faced a monumental task Thursday night, trying to earn a statement win at one of the most difficult road venues in college basketball.
They have been plagued by slow starts and did it again against Arizona, missing shots, losing the ball on self-caused turnovers and lots of fouling.
Good thing for UConn, the Wildcats were doing the same thing in an ugly first half that included nearly as many combined turnovers (19) and fouls (17) as made field goals (20).
Arizona led 30-23 at halftime in large part because UConn had trouble matching up with Ristic, who had 10 points and six rebounds at halftime. Deandre Ayton, the Wildcats' other 7-footer, was limited to 7 minutes due to foul trouble.
Both teams weeded out most of the ugliness to start the second half. UConn scored the first seven points to tie it and the teams played with a fluidity that was missing in the first half.
Ristic kept getting the ball inside and scoring, while Alkins gave Arizona a lift, scoring eight quick points after a shoulder to the face sent him briefly to the bench.
Larrier, Adams and Vital kept the Huskies within reach, answering nearly every time Arizona tried to pull away.
Arizona made a late push and the Huskies had no answer, losing by 15 in a game that was still close with 5 minutes left.